Back boards



June 15, 1965 w. J. HEIDT ETAL 3,189,331

BACK BOARDS Filed March 18, 1964 United States Patent Ofi ice 3 ,189,381 Patented June 15, 1 .965

3,189,381 BAK BQARDS William I. Heidt, 160 Gordonhurst Ave, Upper Montclair, N..l., and William M. Emery, 44 Pottsford Way, New Providence, NJ.

Filed Mar. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 352,824 1 Claim. (Cl. 297-230) This invention refers primarily to an auxiliary, unattached back board for use primarily against the back of conventional automobile seats which are resilient and curved convexly on their horizontal axis, although it has also been found comfortable with bucket seats which seldom fit closely to the roundness of the users back.

Objects are to provide a simple and substantially one piece back support which is quadruply reversible front to back and top to bottom, and substantially flexible only on vertical axes, also to provide such a one piece, flexible back board with greater depth or thickness on the vertical sides edges thereby providing a concave bucket-seatlike support that tends to maintain the spine free from lateral slouch while encouraging a correct spinal lumbar curve. The end object of the back board is to minimize back ache so common on long drives due to poor posture, over soft or misshapen seat backs.

A further object is to provide a back board so flexible on vertical axes that it can be rolled up for shipment or storage.

Another object is to provide a drivers back support board which is concavely form-fitting and self adjustable on vertical axes to conform with a Wide variety of drivers backs varying in breadth and curvature.

Another object is to transform the supporting surface for the back from the conventional convex curve on a horizontal axes of the conventional auto seat back to a concave curve on a vertical axis, and in a sense to utilize the resilient juncture of these convex and concave surfaces or opposed convex surfaces with axes at right angles to each other as a fulcrum.

These and other objects and their attainment will be obvious from the specification and claims herewith and from the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of the basic one piece element of my back board, showing scores therein.

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the element of FIG. 1 flexed and folded with one side flat.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but with both sides flexed at the scores.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to the right half of FIG. 3 but flexed oppositely at certain of the scores, and

FIG. 5 is an orthographic elevation of the black board flexed substantially like FIG. 3.

FIGURE 1 shows a sheet of conventional corrugated board with scores for folding, depressed from one side and shown in full lines and four scores depressed from the under side and shown in broken lines. The internal flutes of the corrugated board are preferably parallel to these scores. The surface 10 shown in FIG. 1 is actually the inside surface of the back board. The outside surface is indicated on the other views as 1 1.

The function of the various scores to 34 made from side '10 and scores to 38 made from side 11 are best understood simply by comparing similarly numbered parts in the several figures. Score 27 is on the center line of the board so that scores 26 to 20 and 36 and 35 are symmetrically spaced respectively to scores 28 to 34 and 37 and 38.

Scores '22, 35, 23, 36 and 24 when folded form lateral accordion 50 and scores 30, 37, 31, 38 .and 32 form lateral accordion 51.

These accordion folds 50 and 51 provide great vertical strength, thickness and stiffness since they each represent six thicknesses of the board; they also convey a springy resiliency in depth to the back board. The resiliency is confined by tapes 6% and 61 which are cemented to panels 46 and 47 and 48 and 49 respectively. Accordions 5t and 51 also function to provide a flexible adjustment to compensate for variations in the direct distance between scores 22 and 27 and 32 and 27 or 24 and 27 and 27 and 30 occurring when the back board is flexed oppositely such as is illustrated by comparing FIG- URES 3 and 4. Without this flexible adjustment and compensation, the structure of the back support would be more resistant to self conforming and lose much of its essential flexibility, durability and comfort.

The resiliency of the accordions 50 and 5 1 and the scoring of the doubled wall structure at 20 to 22, 24 to 30 and 32 to 34 when used against the resiliency of a conventional auto seat back, does much to make this back support comfortably form-fitting and self adjusting for drivers backs which vary widely in breadth and shape.

The sum of the distance between the folds 22, $5 and 23 and likewise the sum of the distances between 31, 38 and 32 is greater than the sum of the distances between 23, 36 and Z4, and likewise the sum of the distances between 30, 37 and 31 respectively. This proyides staggered or offset lines of contact between 35 and 36 and 37 and 38 with panels 46 and 47 and panels 48 and 49 respectively when the accordions 50 and 51 are fully compressed, and further provides angular spacing between sections 46 and 49 with sections 47 and 48 re spectively under compressed conditions. This encourages concavity and strength.

Ends 40 and 41 are brought adjacent to each other, but preferably with a slight separation so as not to interfere with flexibility at score 27 when end panels 53 and 54 and 55 and 56 on either side of center line score 27 are cemented or stapled or otherwise joined respec tively together and the joint between 55 and 56 is covered as shown in FIG. 5 with a strip of gummed tape 65. Likewise the top edge 42 and the bottom edge 43 of the corrugated sheet as shown in FIG. 5 are bound with gummed tape 63 and 64 respectively.

A resilient rubber or plastic foam pad 70 may be cemented to either side or both sides of surface 11 as shown in FIG. 5.

Surface 11 may be ornamented and tapes 60 to 64 may be similar in color, matching possibly with the color of foam 70.

Foam pad 7ft has two functions. When the lower edge 43 of back board is adjacent to the seat and the back board is faced as shown in FIG. 5 toward the back of the driver, pad 70 seats itself into the lumbar curve of the drivers spine. A more upright and restful sitting position results when the spine in the lumbar region is correctly curved. Secondly, if the support were reversed front to back and top to bottom bringing pad 70 into a higher position and faced toward the back of the seat, and if the support is also raised so that its normally top edge 42 would be down and adjacent to and fitting into the lumbar curve of the drivers spine, then a very excellent and comfortable driving position results, especially when the buttock is pushed back into the crotch of the seat. This also emphasizes lumbar spinal curve. In this case, the frictional qualities of pad 70 keep the support in this elevated position and the pad acts as a spacer and tends to make the board more vertical. At the same time, the board in this position,

utilizes the resilient fulcrum that results from the juncture of the horizontally convex curve of the conventional auto seat back and the opposite curvature of this unique back board.

The reversible flexibility on vertical axes along the score lines 24) to 22, 24 to 30, and 32 to 34 is most important to comfort and the avoidance of back ache. This flexibility is maintained even though the board ends are cemented to panels adjacent to the center line to form a double Walled structure hinged at the sides and cemented in the middle because of the added pivotal or hinged accordion structure.

It is Within the concept of this invention that a single panel section uniting panels 46 and 47 and 48 and 49 respectively might be substituted for each accordion. This Would accomplish only part of the purpose of the accordion just described. It would not have the springy resiliency in depth nor Would it have the strength of the six thicknesses of board found in the side accordions, nor would it provide the stagger-ed contact of the folds of unequal lengths in the accordion to further reinforce and space the adjacent panels according to the direction of tflexure of the support and the compression of the accordion.

The extent to tWhiCh any device of this character can be distributed today, and accordingly the extent to which its benefits enjoyed, is largely dependent upon the low costs that can result from utter simplicity of construction, such as a one-piece construction, no hinges, no reinforcement, no plurality of parts, no covering etc., and minimum Weight resulting in low shipping costs.

A one-piece construction for an unattached back board flexible on its vertical axes, suitable to be directly supported by a resilient seat back of a contrary shape substantially there against, is unique in the art. Many variations of structure, materials and articulation of panels are possible without departing from the teachings and fundamental principles suggested herein and should be considered Within the scope of the claim.

Accordingly, We claim:

A back board to support the spine vertically While sitting and leaning there against comprising a rectangular section of corrugated board, a plurality of substantially vertical scores therein, foldings along said scores to form a structure flexible along said vertical scores, accordi-on folds along the vertical edges of said support to provide vertical stiflness and added thickness and resiliency in depth along said edges and means to confine said accordion folds maintaining them closely adjacent to each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 974,871 11/10 Ferres 229-23 987,958 3/ 11 Clenny 229-23 1,151,894 8/ 15 Menecke 53 27 2,504,190 a 4/50 Farrell 297-452 2,607,400 8/52 Witz 297-284 2,791,268 5/57 Mendelsohn 297255 2,815,798 12/57 Lohans 297-230 2,831,533 8/58 Pasquarelli 297231 2,856,614 10/58 OLeary 5-327 3,053,569 9/62 Clark 297457 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,101,008 4/55 France.

82,807 11/53 Norway.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

